Nobel Prize-winning Penn State alumnus Paul Berg dies

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State alumnus Paul Berg, who received the 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry, died Feb. 15 at his home in Stanford, California, surrounded by loved ones. He was 96.

Berg’s research impact, through his groundbreaking research involving nucleic acids, is felt by many every day in the science community.

“Hardly a day goes by in my laboratory that does not involve some aspect of his seminal discoveries that led to his 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry,” said Paul Babitzke, Stanley R. Person Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State.

Stephen Benkovic, Evan Pugh University Professor and Eberly Chair in Chemistry at Penn State, said: “Every time my lab takes a plasmid, introduces it into bacterium, and produces a protein, that procedure is directly attributable to Paul’s original insights. This technique is done all over the world.”

Babitzke also recalled meeting Berg while doing postdoctoral research at Stanford, in the lab of Charles Yanofsky: “He and Paul Berg were fierce (friendly) tennis foes. Thus, I met Paul several times before or after tennis matches. He was very humble, and always happy to hear what you were doing in the lab.”

An immense presence

Beyond Berg’s scientific achievements, his presence on Penn State’s University Park campus is immense: Over the years, he has contributed to an undergraduate research fellowship, a biochemistry and two early-career professorships, two graduate fellowships and an endowment for graduate student travel.

“Not only did his contributions to our fundamental understanding of life inspire our students — and our faculty when many of them were students! — but he invested back in Penn State with impactful contributions to support faculty research and students in their education,” said Wendy Hanna-Rose, department head and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. “We are privileged to have benefited from his generosity and fortunate to be able to support his legacy.”

Berg’s name also graces the auditorium in the Huck Life Sciences Building, and in January 2023, a commemorative bench was installed outside the Nittany Lion Inn as a gift from the college to celebrate his 95th birthday and his 75 years of marriage to his wife, Mildred. Paul met Mildred while working a summer job in high school, and their love blossomed during his time as a student at Penn State. The location of the bench was chosen because Rec Hall and the Nittany Lion Inn were the site of many of their early happy times together, attending dinners and dances. A plaque on the bench reads: “Commemorating the love of Paul & Mildred Berg. A life filled with joy & purpose.”

When originally approached about a commemorative bench, Berg wrote: “Although visitors to the bench will relish the site’s ambiance, they will be unaware that nearly 80 years ago two young lovers forged a union filled with joy, adventure and purpose.”

A lasting legacy

Berg was an American biochemist and Robert W. and Vivian K. Cahill Professor of Cancer Research, Emeritus, at Stanford University. He received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1980, along with Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger. The award recognized their contributions to basic research involving nucleic acids.

Berg earned many other honors, including the National Medal of Science, California Scientist of the Year, Lasker Award in Basic Science, and National Library of Medicine Medal. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a foreign member of the British Royal Society and the French Academy of Sciences. Berg served on advisory boards of the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Whitehead Institute and others. He chaired the Human Genome Project’s National Advisory Committee. 

Berg graduated from Penn State in 1948. He earned his doctoral degree in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve and spent his postdoctoral years in Copenhagen, Denmark, and at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1959 he moved to Stanford along with six colleagues to establish a biochemistry department. Berg served as its chair from 1969 until 1974 and was the director of Stanford’s Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine from 1985 until his retirement in 2000.

Mildred “Millie” Berg, who died in November 2021, was greatly admired in her own right. Her brilliant mind and kind heart matched her husband’s. They married after she completed her nurse’s training in 1947; their union celebrated nearly 75 years. She was devoted to Paul and their son, John, and to creating a home where students and colleagues were warmly welcomed. She directed her scientific passion to the conservation, care and protection of land and sea animals, and was an advocate and ardent supporter of the Silicon Valley Humane Society, Marine Mammal Center, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and World Wildlife Fund. 

“Paul was a brilliant scientist who revolutionized molecular biology. He was also a very generous and kind person who gave selflessly to Penn State,” said Philip Bevilacqua, department head and distinguished professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. “A number of chemistry students were honored over the years to have received the Paul Berg Prize and had the high honor of meeting Paul. He will be sorely missed.”

Berg’s advice was to “Share knowledge! Collaborate! Fervently pursue the answers to your scientific questions. Discovery is exciting, and the search for learning things you don’t yet know is the adventure of a lifetime — the possibilities are endless!”

Tracy Langkilde, Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Penn State Eberly College of Science, said: “I am in awe of Paul’s accomplishments — achieved through his dedication both to science and learning and to his family — and I encourage you all to think about his advice, and to strive to also live a life of ‘joy, adventure and purpose.’”